Taika Waititi and Mark Gustafson Will Direct 'Bubbles'

Deadline reports that Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, A113Animation Award winner Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok…) and Mark Gustafson (co-directing the upcoming Pinocchio with Guillermo del Toro) will helm Bubbles, a stop motion film about Michael Jackson's chimpanzee.

A 'Speedy Gonzales' Movie is in the Works at Warner Bros.

Deadline reports that an animated feature film based on the Looney Tunes character Speedy Gonzales is currently being developed at Warner Bros., with Eugenio Derbez as the voice of the Mexican mouse.

Sony Finds a New Writer for Its 'Popeye'

Deadline reports that Sony hired T.J. Fixman to write the Popeye movie. The project had been up in the air since the departure of Genndy Tartakovsky (Hotel Transylvania, Star Wars: Clone Wars) from the project earlier this year, but it seems Sony Pictures Animation still wants to move forward with it.

Disney is Planning a 'Tower of Terror' Movie

According to Deadline, Disney is working on a movie based on one of its famous theme parks' rides, the Tower of Terror. The attraction is itself connected to the CBS TV series The Twilight Zone and consists of a drop tower dark ride.

The PEZ Candy Will (Also) Become an Animated Film

Well folks, it's official: Hollywood has run out of ideas. It was fun while it lasted, I guess. Deadline reports that an animated movie based on the PEZ candy is coming our way. More below.

Emoji are Coming to the Big Screen

Deadline reports that Sony Pictures Animation outbid Paramount and Warner Bros on an animated project based on Emoji. That's Hollywood for you: LEGO and Minions are a success, so suddenly everybody's got to have a movie based on cute yellow creatures.

'Mega Man' Gets a TV Come-Back

Mega Man, the blue robot and titular character of a huge video-game franchise will be the star of a new animated TV series. The show will arrive in 2017, for the 30th anniversary of the character. More below.

Disney's New Live Action Project: Pinocchio

We've got a new entry in our recurring 'Which Disney classic is going to be turned into a live action film today?' game - And the winner of this edition is the beloved… Pinocchio!

'When Marnie Was There' Gets An English Voice Cast

What might be the last movie ever (hopefully not!) from Studio Ghibli, When Marnie Was There, is coming to English-speaking countries soon; so it's only logical that the English voice cast for the film was revealed. And it was today by Deadline.

Adventure Time Is Heading to the Big Screen

Deadline reports that the popular Cartoon Network TV show Adventure Time is getting its own feature film. The film will be developed by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network Studios.

Jon Hamm Joins Minions Voice Cast

I've dreamt of the day I'd be able to somehow fit Jon Hamm into an A113Animation post, and now Illumination have answered my prayers. The Universal-owned studio have announced that the Mad Men actor will be lending his voice to the Despicable Me spin-off, alongside Sandra Bullock.

DreamWorks Bits: The Croods To Get a Sequel; New Turbo Poster

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to those who've been keeping up to date with how the film's been performing at the box office (particularly, that it's a significant improvement over Rise of the Guardians), but Deadline reports that DreamWorks have green-lit a sequel to The Croods - which will be announced at CinemaCon tomorrow (check out our coverage of Disney's CinemaCon news here).

Albert Brooks Set to Return for Finding Nemo 2

Brooks (center) with Willem Defoe and John Lasseter at the premiere of
Finding Nemo 3D.

Deadline is reporting that Albert Brooks, who so brilliantly lent his voice to father-clownfish Marlin in 2003's Finding Nemo, has signed on to reprise the role in Pixar's planned sequel. Finding Nemo is a source of unanimous praise, and one area that attracts significant adulation is its voice cast; in August we heard that Ellen DeGeneres was in talks to return to the role of Dory in the follow-up, so it's very reassuring to see that Brooks is back too.

Brooks was an absolute standout in an already brilliant film and, whatever direction Pixar take with the second film, - whether it be a sequel or a prequel - this is definitely going to help it be good. Brooks has taken a while to get pinned down to return though, likely affected by his recent bad-ass turn in 2011's Drive. It'll be interested to see - dependant on it being a sequel, of course - whether or not Alexander Gould, the voice of Nemo, (now 18) returns.

Who we do know, supposedly, is returning is director Andrew Stanton, who most recently directed controversial live-action film John Carter for Disney. Lindsey Collins (also John Carter) is set to produce and Victoria Strouse is handling the script. A 2016 release is being aimed for.

I'm more and more intrigued by Finding Nemo 2 as time passes, but I still can't quite escape the feeling it's just not necessary. But, at the end of the day, I trust Pixar, and I'm but a mere mortal, so if they want to make one, I believe they have ample cause.

Other Pixar news: Hilarious New Monsters University Trailer
Other voice cast news: Sandra Bullock Turning Evil for Despicable Me Spin-Off, Minions

DreamWorks Woes: Mr. Peabody Pushed Back, Shadow Back in Development, Staff Cuts Coming

On the back of Rise of the Guardians under-performing (though it's still taken almost $300 million worldwide - hardly a failure), DreamWorks have a string of unpleasantness on the horizon, and none of today's developments are good news for animation fans.

DreamWorks Sign With Fox

DreamWorks Animation's distribution deal with Paramount comes to a close at the end of the year - with Paramount looking to cut out the middle man and set up their own animation studio - which left DreamWorks looking for a new partner. Studios rumoured to be in consideration were Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox and Sony, and today, Deadline tells us that the house that brought us Shrek has now signed a five year distribution deal with Fox.

Per the deal, Fox will receive an 8% cut of box office and home video takings, and 6% of digital takings - meaning DreamWorks' lucrative deal with Netflix. DreamWorks CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, called the deal "an absolute win-win".

Of note also, is that Fox already has its own built-in animation division, Blue Sky Studios, which is pretty damn successful. Fox's Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman spoke about this in a DreamWorks conference call, saying:

“We are particularly excited to add DreamWorks Animation’s films to the strong and growing slate of movies from our outstanding Blue Sky Studios division, which is coming off another global blockbuster with Ice Age: Continental Drift, and has Epic and Rio 2 in advanced production. Together we will be a dominant force in animated entertainment for years to come.”

The first film released under this new deal will be Chris Sanders' The Croods, due on 22nd March, 2013.

Minion-Centric Despicable Me Spin-Off On the Way

This was kind of an inevitability. Illumination Entertainment, who most recently released Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, broke onto the scene back in 2010 with Despicable Me. The film was a big commercial hit, making $543 million worldwide, and well received by critics also - averaging 81% on Rotten Tomatoes - but arguably the biggest hit in the film were the minions.

The gibberish speaking yellow army were huge merchandise hits, received their own short films on the Despicable Me DVD and Blu Ray, and even their own theme-park ride! The minions are sure to feature prominently in 2013's Despicable Me 2 (which adds Kristen Wiig and Al Pacino to the voice cast)but they're going to get even more focus the year after, as the Minions are getting their very own spin-off movie!

Being produced in parallel with Despicable Me 2 with a view for a 2014 release, Deadline reports that Despicable Me co-director Pierre Coffin will direct and The Lorax co-director Kyle Balda will co-direct, from a script written by Brian Lynch (who has experience writing spin-offs, writing the script for DreamWorks' Puss in Boots, and working with Illumination, having worked on Hop). How great a Minions spin-off would be is questionable, but it's sure to rake in a lot of money, and this is sound business for Illumination's parent-company, Universal.

Andrew Stanton Reportedly Working on Finding Nemo 2!

No, you didn't read that wrong, that's the story that Deadline's reporting! Deadline reports, following the supposed $200 million loss on his live-action directorial debut John Carter, that Andrew Stanton is returning to animation with a sequel to his Oscar winning 2003 animation directorial debut, Finding Nemo!

Deadline's Mike Fleming says that he has been "told [Stanton's] now officially come aboard the Finding Nemo sequel and has a concept the studio loves." The article also suggests that the reason behind Stanton's sudden involvement is directly due to the failings of John Carter (belated review up soon by the way) and that a sequel to Pixar's second highest-grossing film might ingratiate him to the Disney top-brass again. I can't believe - if the story is true - that this is the legitimate reason behind the sequel. One of Pixar's brain trust and a two-time Academy Award winner for his animated films, the faith in Andrew should still be there, despite one shortcoming - one not even necessarily due to the quality of the film.

It may not be the sequel fans were particularly clamouring for (The Incredibles 2), but it's almost a complete certainty that Finding Nemo 2 would be huge; possibly the only Pixar film that would have a real shot at beating Toy Story 3 worldwide. The timing of the reveal also makes sense, with Finding Nemo 3D hitting theatres in September. But, I can't escape the feeling that a sequel is not needed! Nemo 1 had a perfect ending as is.

That said, Pixar have never disappointed me; Toy Story 3 had its naysayers prior to release - if you're looking for them, just check the "Toy Story 3 was great!" bandwagon - and, although its quality is debated much more, the same is true for Cars 2. Both were, in my eyes, fantastic films, and I have no doubt that Pixar would give a sequel to one of its most beloved properties its all. It would also take a remarkably strong idea to get Stanton interested in a sequel - if the rumours about it being a ploy for more Barsoom time are false of course.

Let's see how Monsters University turns out first.

Where do you stand on a Nemo sequel? Yay or nay? There will be a poll up on the right very shortly, sound off there, in the comments section or Tweet us about it (@A113Animation).

UPDATE

Giving more credence to the already trustworthy claims is the fact that The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting that Lindsey Collins (also John Carter) is set to produce, Victoria Strouse is set to write the script, and a 2016 release date is being aimed for.

Illumination Entertainment Developing The Cat in the Hat Adaptation

Almost a decade after the critical and box office failure of the live-action adaptation of arguably Dr. Seuss's most famous work, The Cat in the Hat, Universal Pictures are set to have another go at adapting the beloved book, this time as an animated film, Deadline reports.

Universal's resident animation department, Illumination Entertainment, are tasked with adapting the book for a CG animated release, following the enormous success of their adaptation of another of Dr. Seuss's books, The Lorax. The Lorax has topped the US box office for the past two weeks, and that success seems sufficient enough to somewhat expunge the painful memory of the 2003 live-action disaster from the mind of Audrey Geisel, as the widow of Dr. Seuss has agreed to the production of the film. Geisel will also be executive producing the product, with Chris Meledandri set to produce and Rob Lieber penning the script.

Meledandri has been working with the famed author's widow on adapting his works since he ran Blue Sky Studios, with 2008's Horton Hears a Who. Illumination Enertainment are also reportedly working on a live-action biopic about Seuss's life, starring and being produced by Johnny Depp.

Via Big Screen Animation.